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Vulnerability and disasters

“The vulnerable state of populations and settlements is as much a contributor to the cause of ‘natural’ disasters as are the physical phenomena with which they are associated. What are called ‘earthquakes’ and ‘hurricanes’ are the natural forces; what are seen afterwards are the results of the impact of those forces on human settlements (where) damage destruction and death are conditioned by the decisions and actions of society over time.”

Many places may have an inherent vulnerability to hazards, such as earthquakes or tropical cyclones, and occupants of those places, communities or buildings, knowingly or unknowingly inherit and become subject to the vulnerability of the place which they inhabit (for example see Islands).

What is done, or not done, to a place by people in distant or recent pasts, can come to affect not only its occupiers at that time, but also those that follow, recurrently for many years and in perpetuity (Lewis & Kelman ACME 2010 p194).

In the same way, external pressures upon people may contribute to their susceptability, and consequently to their vulnerability: their exploitation and that of land, community displacement, social exclusion, and corruption in governmental and commercial procurement and construction, lead to impoverishment and poverty and are known examples of causes of people’s vulnerability.

Disasters, therefore, are rarely “natural” - they are created by humankind. Most people’s exposure to disaster risk has been created by others, in recent times and in historical pasts.

For millions of people there are few options for where, in what, or how they live, having been forced or obliged to occupy places most exposed to floods or landslides, on land not required for commercial agriculture or other purposes, or in conditions so overcrowded and without basic utilities that self improvement has become impossible.

The conditions in which a majority of people live are created by the actions and inactions of others, made in their own political and commercial self-interest. These actions and inactions and the authorities that issue or condone them, invariably have become institutionalised, “permanently” ingrained and “every day”.

Domination and control have become a significant negative characteristic of everyday life because the power to effect change remains with those who benefit, not with those who suffer the consequences of oppression, discrimination, exploitation - and consequent poverty and vulnerability.

If we want to reduce the impact of disasters and reduce disaster risk, we should limit and prevent such actions and inactions.

Examples of the causes of vulnerability in the 15 countries of Bangladesh, China, The Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Martinique, Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, the United kingdom and the USA and are described in:The Creation of Cultures of Risk: Political and commercial decisions as causes of vulnerability for others An Anthology (James Lewis, 2008) http://www.islandvulnerability.org/docs/lewis2008risk.pdf and in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) versus Disaster Risk Creation (DRC), James Lewis & Ilan Kelman, 2012 (see publications below).

Climate change exacerbates all of these causative processes of vulnerability by its exposure to increased incidence and severity of known hazards and by the introduction of new or unfamiliar hazards.